Forest Path - Amaravati Buddhist Monastery

acceptance, forgiveness and deep blue empathy… going home 189
and my sister and her children were quite well, indeed all having a
lot of fun.
The new house they were renting was perched on a small hill
which backed directly onto an expansive area of undulating ranges
carpeted in a reserve of native Australian bush. The forest was a
beautiful backdrop to our many long conversations. It was a relief to
be able finally to listen, to hear the many details of the past years of
struggle, to encourage her in maintaining a generous heart and in
learning to forgive, a process in which she was already well established.
She and her children performed a show of tribal rhythms and
dance on their drums and Dianne later played some songs on the piano,
the very songs she used to rehearse in our family home and
which I would wake up to as a five-year-old all those years ago. Admittedly
these were strange activities to be participating in as a
monk yet in such a context they seemed harmless enough.
I also visited the school classes of my niece and nephew and gave a
talk about the lifestyle of forest monks. Happily the school children
were enamoured by the forest monk uncle, asking many questions
about my daily routine, meditation and Thai culture. Some curious
questions were put to me: “Can you make yourself float up in the
air? … I know you can’t eat at night but if you’re really hungry can’t
you just have some crackers or something?” They were amazed
when I explained that I didn’t have a refrigerator or cupboard or
even electricity. On both occasions I left classrooms hearing such
exclamations as: “That’s what I’m gonna do. When I grow up, I’m
gonna be a monk!” I had intended these talks to be a gift to my
young niece and nephew, to show them that, although I lived far
away, I still cared for them. There had been some reservation in my
mind however as I was not sure that such exotic spirituality would
be appreciated by all. The fears were unfounded. When I asked my
nephew whether any of the kids thought I was weird he answered,
“Nuh … They all thought you were cool!”
My bhikkhu companion met me for the flight between Sydney and
Brisbane, which was probably the most nervous time during my
travels in Australia. When thousands of feet above the ground, a
person is propelled within minutes several hundred miles from
where a life was recently being conducted, I expect it is normal to become
very circumspect. I thought a lot during that flight. After so